South Africa - The Garden Route

After the safaris’ we explored the rest of the Eastern Cape, heading out along the ‘Garden Route’ – a scenic drive between PE and Cape Town with beautiful scenery along the way. I thought of the Garden Route as a bit of a Great Ocean Road drive (near Melbourne) combined with the Sea to Sky Whistler drive (near Vancouver). Ocean and crashing waves on one side, towering mountains on the other. It was a breathtaking drive, lots of beautiful sights! We stopped off at Tsitsikamma National Park on the way, took a quick hike to the suspension bridge there and then decided to do the first part of the Otter hike which is about a 7km round trip. The hike was fantastic, it wound its way along the coast and you were treated to beautiful views of the crashing waves. The full Otter hike actually takes several days to complete and looks like it would be a great experience. At the beginning of the hike we saw a few Dassie’s – kind of an otter/rabbit?? Definitely recommend Tsitsikamma National Park to any hiking/camping enthusiast out there – they had some small lodges there that looked like they would be fun to stay in – next time!!

After Tsitskamma we drove on to Knysna – described as kind of a hippie town. We stayed in a very small but interestingly decorated hotel there. The Oysters in Knysna are well known – as they should be!! YUM delicious! We hit a bit of rainy weather there and spent our time exploring some of the local markets and craft artisans. Loving!!! African arts and crafts – carvings, beaded jewellery - very colourful and spirited.

We welcomed in the new year in Knysna – well sort of – we were actually asleep by 11pm! Knysna is pretty small, so not much going on, unless you had a reservation at a restaurant, which we didn’t. We were feeling pretty tired and had to get up at 5am the next day to drive to Cape Town. So a very restful start to the new year : ) Along the Garden Route and more distinct as you head into Cape Town, just outside of the centre of the city, and beyond the large properties with the beautiful homes, out on the fringes are strips of shanty towns. From the highway some of them can stretch out for 10-20 km. From the outside it looks like a massive jumble of tin shacks each in itself a colourful patchwork of car parts, old signs and other recycled materials. Garbage is strewn out all over the place. I’d say up to this point we’d seen only one view of life in South Africa and really been quite obsessed with safety, crime and our beach and safari experiences. As we whizzed by on the highway, the shanty towns offered a glimpse into the poverty and unemployment issues much of the South African population faces.

Another glimpse of this, that actually really got to me was that you would see individuals of all ages walking alone or in a pair, sometimes a mother with a child, along the highway. Driving by you would know how far they had walked and how far they still had to go. Of course the story I conjured up in my mind was of an individual walking in the summer heat, a considerable distance, just to get to a job. For safety reasons, we were specifically told not to stop or pick anyone up, even if their car ‘appears’ to break down. I remember feeling quite angry and helpless at this situation.

African Safari!

Lalibela
Steve and I left PE and drove to a private game reserve called Lalibela. The accommodations there was amazing and very deluxe (as they should have been for the price we paid! Around $400 Canadian for one night/two drives and some amazing meals.) Our ranger was a young guy named Alistair, who came from my Dad’s hometown of Kimberly! We shared an open jeep with a family from the UK and spent an evening and a morning doing safari drives. Alistair was four by fouring all over the place, over pot holes, down ditches and over trees – the drive itself was an experience. Along the way we saw some amazing sights! Stumpy white rhinos, striped zebras, small baby impala (so cute!), large herds of all sort of ‘bucks’, graceful giraffes!!, red hartebeest, water covered hippo noses, 2 wild dogs (close to extinct), a lion (so majestic), lioness and a couple of cubs climbing a tree!! We had a very very close encounter with a number of elephants, They were so close, I could have reached out and picked one of their noses! I won’t soon forget that! We also sampled a termite (leafy tasting – apparently high in protein) and picked up lots of interesting animal facts … like giraffes have the 2nd hardest kick, camel first, zebra third and that Rhinos walk in and spread their dung around to mark their territory. A group of Zebra’s is called a “dazzle”.




Addo Elephant Park
We weren’t able to book two nights at Lalibela, so we spent the next day at Addo Elephant Park. Addo is an amazing place for elephant sightings (200-300 live there) and despite the very up close elephant sighting we had already experienced I was amazed by the elephants at Addo. They have observation stations set up at two of the watering holes and if you go at the right time of day it is really a treat. We saw up to 28 elephants one time hanging out and playing together. The funniest is when they are stretching and kneel down. When you see them leaving, you run back and jump into your car and then watch them crossing the road right in front of you! It was pretty cool! The first day we went out in our own, covered, car so it wasn’t quite as intimidating as the open jeep. The second day we went with a ranger in a raised jeep and realised that the little lift helped you to see over the shrubs lining the roads and we saw a lot more wildlife. Addo seems to also have a lot of warthogs (think Poomba from Lion King). I was quite excited to see the first one, but not so much when we saw them every 5 minutes. We also saw kudu, jakal, meercat (timone from lion king), zebras and a poor lion that looked like it had just been mauled by something on it’s side. For travelers on a budget, Addo is highly recommended. We were able to book accommodations there, not quite as chic chic as the private reserve, but solid and with a kitchen for under $100 Canadian a night. You can also just pay for entry into the park and then drive around on your own and stay somewhere else if you like.




Speaking of seeing a lot of animals we also ate a lot of animals. I felt like I had OD’d on meat by day 4 of the trip, as I had eaten more meat in 4 days than in the last month. ostrich, kudu, lamb, beef, boerewors (sausages), billtong (dried meat sticks/pieces) …… you couldn’t get away from it. It was very good … just toooo much!

South Africa - Port Elizabeth

Steve and I arrived in S. Africa on 26th of December, filled with fear about the dangers and crime that abound. We flew into Johannesburg – the land of my birth (apparently the 2nd highest city for crime in the world!) and spent oh a good 2 hours watching our back at the airport before we made a quick exit and hopped a plane to Port Elizabeth. In PE we rented a car and diligently locking our car doors, keeping an eye out for dangerous pedestrians!! we drove to my Aunt Verna and Uncle Peter’s house, not sure what to expect. We were seriously paranoid. Luckily for us my A.Verna and U. Peter live there and we also met up with my cousin Joanne (from London) and her cousin Ricky – with locals around our tension faded a bit. Thanks!

We velcroed ourselves to them, relying on them to inform us when we did something unsafe. Which actually never really happened, they were pretty relaxed. S.Africa is definitely not as safe as say Canada and I did note that doors and windows are always locked, all houses are surrounded by sharp looking fences, lights were left on in the day time … and that people don’t really walk around much. There are definitely some nasty criminals out there, but there are a lot of good people out there as well! A week into the S.Afrcia trip I read a quote in Lonely Planet which said something to the effect of be conscious of what’s around you, but don’t get paranoid. This is definitely the way to approach travel here (and any foreign city really). Being aware and conscious of your safety is important; being paranoid definitely ruins the experience. In PE we spent our time at the infamous Canton Restaurant, owned by my Aunt and Uncle and lying around at the beach. We helped out in the restaurant one night (I beat like 100 eggs!!) and it was really interesting to see how a restaurant runs. The beaches are gorgeous here, white sand, fairly warm waters and coming from London … finally some warm sun!! We took advantage of the sun and diligently worked on our tans! We also visited Jeffrey’s Bay, also known as J Bay and attempted some surfing. We left all our valuables in the car when we went surfing and I remember thinking ok, 60% chance we’ll come back and it will all be gone! In all the S.African cities we visited, even in the small ones there are men hanging out in the parking lots working as sort of a ‘car guard’ – some are official (generally they wear uniforms from the company they represent) and some are unofficial (just rocked up to a parking lot hoping to collect money from car owners). J Bay had an ‘unofficial’ one which we didn’t pay. I was all prepared to be separated from our digital camera that day, but nothing happened. We travelled into the city one day, which sits along the beach ... ahhh ... so nice. I also caught sight of African crafts!